1. Make more plastic phones.
2. Sell it very expensive like korean flagships.
3. Brainwash the fans. Tell them it is a well optimized device without lag.
4. After many people buy it, never give them good after-sale services.

Thanks for the link :)
Now i know the truth about sony's marketing tricks.

Sony insider, 01 Jun 2016My inside source at Sony told me that they tested the X performance and X camera against Galax... moreI don't understand why the competitors always bashing and trolling here, but after watching the video in this Youtube with my basic mandarin, finally I know these are the strategy from the competitors. Watching the section 4.00 to find out yourself.

A good review but one main area in the reviewer needs to elaborate . The Nfc.......its in a genius position. The Nfc sticker on the top left front of the phone misleads you into thinking you can only use it from the front however its actually telling you its on the corner of the phone. Ivecused tap and pay from the front corner, the rear corner and the actual rounded corner. Same with file transfers.......Its the best and safest way to use the Nfc connection!! Please ammend your review to reflect this.

Here we go again....SONY brings a knife to a gunfight, as usual. I am not an Apple fan, and I own nothing they make, but they do many things right that makes the iPhone so popular.
What the hell is SONY thinking? Their phone comes to the US with mediocre specs, no fingerprint scanner (now standard on most phones at the upper end of the market), only 3GB, ho-hum camera, clunky out of date design, no marketing effort, and lousy customer support. I love the glass and chrome on the Z5, but they already quit making that. Why? It was beautiful and different. SONY knows how to do the right things, they just refuse to do it, yet they seem to be so puzzled that nobody wants their phones. No wonder they are failing so miserably.
And there are too many models in the X line-up. They should focus on making just one truly amazing phone that checks ALL the boxes, and quit trying to WOW! the market with also-ran junk nobody wants. Even Chinese phones have better specs and cooler design than SONY.
Lastly, SONY really really needs to do something about their lousy customer service and warranty support. As a SONY owner, I should be able to take my SONY phone, that I bought from a SONY store or online at the SONY website, to any SONY store anywhere on the planet and be welcomed and receive top-notch warranty support. I don't want to be told a bunch of crapola about what country the phone was bought in. A SONY phone is a SONY phone, no matter what country it is from. As a customer, I expect SONY to support me wherever I am in the world with first rate service.

As far as marketing, SONY has less than zero. If they want to sell phones, SONY needs to make the best phone in the business with truly top-of-the-line specs and features, drop the worthless gimmicks (like PlayStation remote and 4K video), solve the overheating problem immediately (I read the the SD-820 still has overheating issues), advertise the hell out of it everywhere, price it to sell, and back it up with world-class support. Until they do these things SONY will continue to struggle, possibly winning the race to the bottom.

Lex79, 09 Jun 2016I would argue that the z3c was a decent improvement over the z1c, with a more ergonomic design... moreOn a performance-only basis, yes it was, and the battery life still makes me salivate. But it went all plasticky, and I think the SD800 performs well enough for the (in my eyes) better looks of the 1C to prefer that overall. At least enough for me not to head out to -replace- the 1 with the 3.

I think the 810 gets a bad rap for the wrong reason. It wasn't fast enough, it got warm, it was trounced by the Exynos. That may well be. But the Z5c --is-- faster than the 3, significantly so, and a much better looker as well. So if one was to make peace with the fact that you're not getting the ---fasstest-- phone on the market - something you have already done if you're looking at buying Sony.. - the 5 is still a very respectable device. Had it been a lone entry I would definitely have bought it and been happy.

Its problem, at least in my eyes, was the stamina of its little brother, the 3. Pay 200Â€ more for a speed increase, good (but not great) design improvement and a hearty drop in stamina? Didn't seem like a compelling move. And I had already decided not to buy the 3 in place of my 1. So the final verdict on the 5? Fewer advantages at a higher price. Sound familiar? :p

I have hopes for an X Compact. If it looks exactly like the X-Perf and no thicker than the Z5c, I will jump on it ----for sure----. Sony can't be ---that--- stupid as to scrap their --ONLY-- universally-praised product line. They -can't- be. If there is really no X-C come September, I think the idea that someone is actively trying to burn Sony Mobile to the ground from the inside must be given very real credibility.

Jumbo, 09 Jun 2016I mean, I wouldn't call myself a "purest of pure" supporter, but for me a --good-- looking des... moreI would argue that the z3c was a decent improvement over the z1c, with a more ergonomic design, but both were (and still are) great devices.

The z5c has the SD810, so I wouldnt put it in the same 'great' category, all 810 based devices (not just Sony's) are flawed for having it.

Mkdc, 09 Jun 2016It's pretty much doa. The three most important "things" to capture the android crowd are price... moreI mean, I wouldn't call myself a "purest of pure" supporter, but for me a --good-- looking design counts for a lot. And one the size I like counts for a lot too. Sony's specs haven't been world-beating for some time; even the Zs were merely catching up most of the time. But I can live with 80% of top specs for --tangible-- advantages that make a functional difference, e.g.:

- waterproofing
- SD expansion
- battery life -and- lifespan

If all phones were ugly and boring, those functional advantages on their own would probably still be enough to swing my favour. Add in Sony's continual design prowess - whether you like it or not, at least they try to offer something interesting, if nothing else - and the only real flagship under 5", it's really a no-brainer for me and remains so. If there was a 5"0 S7 Edge, I might be tempted. But there isn't.

In the interests of full disclosure, I will say that I have so far passed on both the Z3c and Z5c, firstly because the Z3c was a design leap backwards, and then because the Z5c was barely an improvement over the Z3c - and both were a step backwards design-wise on the Z1c, which I am still using and will continue to use as long as it still works and nothing more appealing overall comes along. And if just to prove the point, battery on this guy still easily lasts a full day of moderate usage (I -can- drain it if I over-do it) - and this was one of the very first Z1C sold in the Netherlands: it shipped out the first day our corporate supplier had them in stock.

If I could get a gorgeous branded phone for 3 to 5 years (or even more years) and 2 to 3 android version updates (or even more updates), I am willing to pay for it.
If it is something cheap almost one year need to change one phone or lack of updates but with very cheap price, I wouldn't get it.

The branded phone image still gorgeous after many years, but a crap just for few years maybe even few months.

It's pretty much doa. The three most important "things" to capture the android crowd are price, specs and marketing. Sony never had the right marketing to push their mobiles, their phones were always as expensive or more than other android oems and now, they even lost specs (1080p, 3gb, no 4k) so at this point, only the purest of purest sony supporters would consider.

Avan Dr, 09 Jun 2016$100-200 less at starting price isn't 'closely priced'. Z5c is cheaper bcz its lower specs, l... moreSmaller always means more expensive though, because even if the smaller glass size is nominally cheaper, squeezing the same internals into a smaller package means miniaturisation costs, and that's something that has always had value - Just compare standard fat laptops to the Thin-&-Light style & business executive models. Small costs. So the fact that the Compacts are at all a little cheaper, is already quite nice. Of course they end up fatter and we know they aren't actually shrinking anything, but the principle is there at least. ;)

DuckieDroid, 08 Jun 2016"Ever heard of future-proofing? Many people also said that we didn't need to have more than 2 ... moreHah, I thought this matter had been resolved already. Anyways...

Yes, I DO agree that software optimisation through timely updates is certainly future-proofing. However, that shouldn't be an excuse for Sony to sell under-specced flagships. Many flagships offer pretty much timely updates as well. One example being HTC, where with its HTC Advantage (yes, that's totally a thing), their flagship phones get the latest Android update within 90-days. To me, that's not too shabby at all considering the latest HTC 10 has equal, if not better specs than XP.

Fair enough.

To be frank, I'm quite okay about the XP's bezels. It's the top and bottom bezels. Yes they house the stereo speakers. But the Moto X Style feature them as well, all the while having 75% screen-to-body ratio compared to this phone's 68%. Seeing they will put cases on their 'edge' phones anyways, it should not be surprise at all. Plus, it's 'beautiful' and all.

I live in a country that starts with an M. People here are generally more open-minded about smartphones brands, though, and are not afraid of the labeling "Made in China". Chinese OEMs market the hell out of their devices here.

Yes, Sony is different than any other OEMs. They overprice their so-called flagship with midrange specs. By the way, I'm talking about the regular X here. Yup, this is an XP comment section, but it is still semi-relevant. Anyways, Sony just launched their X lineup here recently (sans XP, don't know why). With the not-so-competitive pricing, you can buy three Redmi Note 3s - which has the same specs - with the price of one Xperia X. Also, iPhone users that would jump ship would usually consider the Galaxy S series first other than other phones. That's just a fact since they generally aren't as tech-savvy as their Android counterpart.

It's been a while since I'm a Sony Smartphone fan.
When I bought my Xperia Z1, I was fascinated with a phone that was waterproof and I admired the company choice for making a Compact model with the same specs than its "big brother". Because I love taking photos, the Wrist Strap hole became essential to me and I never felt safer while holding a phone.
Last year, I bought the Z3+ because a car drove by my Z1 - the Phone was still functional, believe me, but the touchscreen was damaged and I couldn't use it.
Never had a problem with my Z3+. The OS that Sony adopts always remembers me the Stock Android, with some good modifications. The latest updates made the phone very smooth and I never had a water related problem, even though my phones are constantly in contact with water.

"Ok, so you're telling us that these phones are perfect?" No
Using the phones in the sun has always been a problem. Their screen isn't better than the one from a iPhone or a Galaxy.
The camera glass lacks in quality (https://youtu.be/gVPa8sNY1Xw?t=48s)
Also, Sony still doesn't allow full Manual controls for the camera - which most of new phones have nowadays. Oh, and we have to agree that the upgrades from version to version are just slight improvements.

I was hoping that Sony would change a little more for the Z6.
Well, they've changed -not in all the aspects that I would like (some of them I didn't like at all), and I still don't know if it will be enough to attract more people. Here's why:
- No more waterproof characteristics/same specs for all phones;
- I don't understand why Sony has opted by not releasing a phone with fingerprint scan in the US (Personally I don't care, but it is a characteristic that the flagships of the competition have);
- No more Wrist Strap (Ok, this may be a small detail that doesn't affect the mass public, but I still REALLY like it);
- The price, obviously.

Despite this:
- The Screen finally appears to be different, and I hope that they made a good job on that.
- I think it looks good and the performance should be enough (for now).

Jumbo, 08 Jun 2016X-compact is what I'm waiting for. Will surely get it as long as it had the 820 at least, main... moreWouldnt really count on a compact model, Sony seems to want people to think that 5 inches is the all round ideal size and that its spec levels that should be the differentiating factor.

Maybe they are right on that score, personally I happen to think 5 inches is the sweet spot so to speak.